Archive · 2016 · From the print edition of Thursday 12 May 2016, Vol. 24, No. 7,252
Across IradFlash flood destroys houses in Karatau hamlet
A thunderstorm sent water down one of the Kök-Moinok canyons into Tar-Say, destroying four houses and drowning much of the hamlet's livestock.
TALAS — A flash flood down one of the canyons of Kök-Moinok destroyed four houses in the hamlet of Tar-Say on Tuesday evening and drowned much of its livestock, the United Nations Mission in Irad said yesterday. No deaths were reported.
Tar-Say, a hamlet of about 280 people at the mouth of the canyon in the Karatau foothills, lies in the Karatau zone of the Autonomous Tribal Regions. Its families keep sheep and goats, and its houses are built of the local red clay. According to UNMI, a thunderstorm over the hills sent water down the normally dry canyon within minutes. Families ran to higher ground, but many animals penned beside the houses could not be saved.
The four families whose houses collapsed are sheltering with relatives. An UNMI spokesman said clan elders had asked for tents, flour and fodder, and that supplies would be sent from Kara-Oi this week. The clan council has not said how many animals were lost.
The canyons of Kök-Moinok, cut by floods into soft red and grey clays, carry water only after spring rains.